1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to novelty items such as toys or novelties of the type that would have extending appendages that may be utilized in decorative fashion and in the specific applicability to novelties having movable wings.
2. Background of the Invention
Articulated toy figures and simulated novelty items having movable appendages are well known in the art and have been used in a variety of functions and appearances. Such figures and novelty items are generally fairly complex and require some mechanism which operates the extremities in a continual fashion or intermittently by means of electrical, mechanical, or wind power and in some instances merely by the force of gravity acting upon the toy.
The ubiquitous flying duck having a pair of wings mounted on an axle is one commonly found novelty in gardens or the like, and there are of course more sophisticated novelty items employing a wide variety of mechanisms in order to impart some type of movement to the novelty to make the novelty more interesting to watch or observe.
However, none of the prior art figures or novelty objects have been able to produce, for example simulated flapping action where the novelty item is winged which flapping is occasioned by wind acting thereon or vibrational forces exerted without the necessity of expensive and intricate mechanisms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5.551,923 Issued to Worzella
This patent is directed to a simulated bird that has wind actuated flapping wings wherein the wings are attached to the body through means of bearing axels 14, 14xe2x80x2 and which co-act with other mechanisms in order to simulate a bird or the like flapping the wings in an up and down movement when actuated by the wind.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,413 Issued to Schwarz
This patent is directed to a bird shaped toy glider wherein the collapsible wing structure on the body has rubber band 25 which is said to xe2x80x9cfunction as a resilient spring-like meansxe2x80x9d (Col. 5 Line 40) for securing the collapsible wing structure on the body of the bird for permitting the collapsible wings to be pivoted about pin 23. While the patentee speaks about spring-like means, a rubber band is intended and certainly would not be thought of as the equivalent of a spring in accordance with the herein disclosed invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,799 Issued to Arriola
This patent is directed to a toy figure which, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises an insect to which is secured a pair of wings which are manipulated as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The FIG. 3 drawing clearly shows a spring 74 that acts to transmit the flapping or actuating movement to the wings which are mounted through wing couplers 26 and 27 as opposed to coil springs as contemplated by the herein disclosed invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,018 Issued to Farrington et al.
This patent is directed to a creature figure toy which has an object that is seated within an enclosure formed by the wings, and to which high speed rotation can be imparted and the wings are moveable to permit exiting of the object within the toy. At Col. 5, Lines 25 et seq. there is a disclosure concerning a torsion spring 116 to bias adjacent housing structure into the opening direction to permit escape of the contained object.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,764 Issued to Peterson
This patent relates to a decoy type structure having a pair of wings which is attached to the body by means of strut 28.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,577 Issued to Walterson
This patent is directed to a drive system for animating a hunting decoy which is energized by means of a battery operated motor that employs fabric wings 16 and 18 that are fixed to mounting pegs 20 and 22.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a novelty simulating figure having extending movable elements comprising the combination of a novelty having a body with at least a pair of extending members supported from said body in about symmetrical fashion wherein each of the pair of extending members are attached to the body through a coil spring means of a k factor low enough to allow the force of gravity or wind action to allow movement of the extending members.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novelty figure having a wing flapping motion wherein the novelty figure comprises a body having a head end and a tail end with each of a pair a wings juxtapositioned and secured to the body in a symmetrical fashion between the head end and the tail end wherein the pair of wings is supported from the body by at least one coil spring element. The coil spring element has a spring constant that allows the pair of wings to move relative to said body when a relatively low force is imparted thereto.
It is another specific object of the invention to provide a novelty figure simulating a bird wherein each of the wings of the bird are secured to the body by means of at least one coil spring so that wind action on the wings causes them to undulate or flap simulating flight of the bird.
It is also a specific object of the invention to provide a novelty simulating a bird, butterfly or other insect having wings wherein the wings are attached to the body of the simulated figure by means of at least one coil spring on each of the wings so that the wings move in an undulating or up and down fashion to simulate natural movement of a winged creature.
It is another, still more specific object of the invention to provide a lawn ornament comprising a simulated figure of a bird, insect or other creature having wings wherein each of the wings is supported by the body of the creature by at least one coil spring such that the coil spring allows for flapping or up and down movement of the wings either due to vibration or wind action on the wings.
It is another even more specific object of the invention to provide a novelty item having a pair of symmetrically supported wings wherein the wing supports are springs and wherein the novelty item has an extending rod for positioning the same in the ground, or lawn or the like.